Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Appleseeds ❯ Episode 4: Rituals & Sacrifices ( Chapter 4 )

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing.

AN: A quick warning, this is a pretty depressing chapter. I apologize for any liberties I might have taken with the Catholic faith and psychology. I did some brief research but I am no way an expert in either of these fields.

Episode Four: Rituals &Sacrifices (December 25, 279 AE)

“I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie.”

“Yup, that's me in a nutshell,” Duo Maxwell muttered more to himself than his rodent companion. “Sister Helen did her best to turn me into a good little catholic boy. She picked me off the streets and cleaned me up as best she could. She said He loved all his creatures, large and small. And if we were good, he would love us and protect us.”

Duo took another bite from his apple and chewed thoughtfully. “Every night, she would pray for our souls, especially mine since I was always getting into trouble.”

“She must'a known something was wrong when those bastards showed up with `influenza vaccines'. She sent me away to go stay with Solo. She said I'd been a good little boy and I could go stay with Solo as a reward. I went back to the church a week later while Solo was gone. He told me to stay in the hideout, but he was gone for so long and I was lonely…”

Duo stared blankly ahead, lost in the memories. “Everyone was dead. All the kids were laid out on their beds, clutching their rosaries. And Sister Helen, she was in the chapel, praying for all our souls, choking on her own blood. She stayed alive long enough to tell me that she loved me and to be a good little boy.”

“She'd swallowed a bottle of acid to make it look like she'd died like the others… Solo told me later it was because I was in the orphanage's official headcount, but my blood hadn't been registered yet. Sister Helen wasn't registered either, because she wasn't one of us. Solo said that when the S.A. came back, they wouldn't notice me missing because they would assume Sister Helen was the unregistered headcount. After all, to those demons, a body was just another body…”

He clutched the apple to his chest in both hands, breathing heavily as he whispered over and over: “Big boys don't cry, big boys don't cry.”

Several long moments later, seemingly soothed by his mantra, Duo continued his story. “I made a deal with her God that day. In His laws, suicide is a cardinal sin. I knew I was born a sinner, and that I'd always be a sinner. But if I could keep from committing just one sin, God would forgive her for her sin; a lifetime of sins in exchange for one.”

“She always looked so sad when she caught me lying. So, if only in one small way, I'd be her good little boy.”

After a long pause he whispered quietly. “And I can believe she's an angel in Heaven…”

With a soft sigh, he closed his eyes and fell asleep, his half-eaten apple rolling away from his limp grasp.

~*~

Quatre ran a hand through his tousled blonde locks and sighed deeply. “So where do we go from here?”

“We locate him as soon as possible.”

“I think we've all reached the same conclusion Heero,” Wufei affirmed. “But the bigger question is how do we approach the situation?”

“Define approach.”

Wufei sighed heavily. “Heero, you've just described to us a veritable phantom, an undocumented UNDIS whose existence we have no knowledge of other than a blood sample. Do we treat him as hostile or as a possible ally? He clearly has a high level of intelligence and unparalleled infiltration skills but we don't know much else. We know he infiltrated the base solo, but he could have allies, even more undocumented UNDIS like himself.”

“He's right,” Quatre added, “We can't rush in blind. We need more information. I suggest we start by narrowing down the search parameters. I also recommend an analysis of his actions to try and determine his behavioural patterns and motivations. Trowa, phone please?”

Trowa reached into his Preventers jacket and produced a small phone from an inner pocket, handing it to Quatre. Snapping it open, Quatre quickly entered a pass code and dialled. “Hello, Rashid? I need you to go fetch Iria and bring her to headquarters. Tell her it's very important. Oh, and please apologize to Catherine for me. Yes, thank you.”

Disconnecting the call, he turned to Heero. “You don't mind do you? Iria is the leading expert in trauma psychology and is completely trustworthy. You have my word.”

Heero's mouth tightened unhappily but he didn't argue with Quatre.

“No objections? Good. Now if you could consolidate all your findings into a report before Iria gets here, we can get the ball rolling. Remember, no detail is too small.”

Heero merely grunted in reply but obediently moved to his desk in the corner of the office and switched on his laptop.

“Wufei, do you think you could access all the travel records to and from L2? Maybe we can determine whether or not he is still on L2.”

Wufei nodded, “I'll check the records.”

Quatre turned to Sally next who nodded and pre-empted him, “I'll get back to the lab and see if I can't speed things up.”

As Sally left, Trowa glanced at his watch and rose. “I need to go check something; I'll be right back love.”

~*~

Duke Dermail sat in his study, idling running a finger along the bottom of his wineglass. Behind him, Peacecraft Hall could be seen through the window, the lights from the still brightly lit hall and plaza delicately dancing along the polished surfaces of the study's antique furniture. Glancing at the clock once again, his finger began tapping an impatient beat against his glass before he threw himself out of his chair and began to pace impatiently.

Just as Dermail turned to leave the study in frustration, the shrill ring of the study's vidphone shattered the tense silence. Stalking over to the communication device, he checked the transmission code and punched down viciously on the `receive' button.

“You're late!”

The vidscreen remained blank as a disembodied voice floated out of the speakers. “I was unavoidably detained.”

“Report.”

“The Preventers know about the use of the QR145 virus on the UNDIS.”

“I know that already,” the Duke hissed, “I'm paying you exorbitant sums of credits to tell me what I don't know!”

“They have obtained a live sample of the QR145 antibodies from an undocumented source.”

A look of horror entered Dermail's eyes. “Is it one of our undocumented?”

“I can't say. Access to the sample is highly restricted.”

“I don't care for your petty excuses; I'm paying you to keep me informed!”

There was a slight pause before the voice returned. “If you want more, it's going to cost you double.”

“What?!” Dermail roared, “That's preposterous! Listen you little rat, we had an agreem-”

“The stakes just went up. You can't afford to let your missing undocumenteds fall into their hands, can you?”

“Fine!” Dermail snapped. “The credits will be transferred to your account first thing in the morning.”

“It's always a pleasure doing business with you,” the voice returned before the line went dead.

In a fit of rage, Dermail picked up his empty wineglass and hurled it against the wall.

~*~

Trowa slid soundlessly out of the darkened communications room, slipping a small black device back into his pocket. As he made his way back towards the main office he shared with his colleagues, he nearly collided with a petite blonde woman rushing down an adjoining corridor.

“Oh! Trowa, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there.”

“Iria,” he greeted, grasping her elbow to help her regain her balance. “How is Catherine?”

“She's her usual tough as nails self. She worries about you though. Be a dear and visit her soon?”

“Of course,” he nodded absently. “I'll visit as soon as I can.” Leading her down the hall, he steered her towards the brightly lit main office.

“Quatre!” Iria called as soon as she entered the office. “I came as soon as I could. Is everything alright? Rashid wouldn't tell me anything; he said you would explain everything once I got here.”

“Thank you Iria,” Quatre rose to greet his eldest sister with a brief kiss on both cheeks. “I hope Catherine isn't too upset with me stealing you away in the middle of the night.”

“She understands, although she can't help but worry,” Iria replied. “As do I, little brother. What is it?”

“Heero?” Quatre called to the figure hunched over his desk, staring at his computer screen.

Hearing his name, Heero rose to join Quatre and his sister at the large conference table in the middle of the room.

“Dr. Winner,” he acknowledge stiffly, handing her the digital tablet he clutched in his hand.

“We need you to conduct a behavioural analysis of the subject in the report Heero just gave you,” Quatre explained. “We're most interested in the subject's possible motivations and mental state. And more importantly, we need to know if the subject would be hostile or sympathetic to our cause.”

“I'll see what I can do.” Wasting no time, Iria sat down at the table and began scrolling rapidly through the material of Heero's report.

Leaving Quatre and his sister to their work, Heero went to stand next to Trowa who was silently watching Wufei scroll through data on his wall of monitors. “You were gone for quite a while,” he observed quietly.

Trowa merely shrugged and offered no explanation.

“Heero,” Wufei called, his eyes never leaving his monitors. “Am I correct in assuming that this bogus Preventers flight mission from L1 to L2 on Tuesday of last week was you?”

Heero grunted in reply.

“I'll take that as a yes,” Wufei muttered distractedly as he continued to scroll through the records.

“Shouldn't Noin be back by now?” Heero demanded suddenly.

“She's attending the annual midnight mass at Sanc Cathedral. She'll probably be back at headquarters in the afternoon.”

~*~

“Where's the girl?”

“She's attending the midnight mass with Ms. Noin.”

“Good, we need the girl to gain the Preventers' trust. More importantly, we might have a crisis on our hands. You need to arrange a secure meeting with `Midek'.”

“Certainly Grandpapa. Can I be of any other assistance?”

“No, I'll handle this new development; you concentrate on the tasks I have already assigned you.”

“Understood. I will contact you when the meeting has been arranged.”

~*~

“Well?” Heero demanded.

Five hours had passed since Iria had begun her analysis. The four young men were now seated at the large conference table and were joined by Sally who had just returned from her lab.

“I… I don't know where to start,” Iria finally blurted out, her aqua blue eyes shimmering. “It's just so horrible! I knew the S.A. was fanatical in their beliefs, but to create such a gruesome method of…” Her control breaking, she sobbed softly. “It's horrible to think that such a horrifying weapon exists!”

Sally's expression was grim. “As a doctor, I can understand your concerns. Don't worry; I'm working on developing a vaccine as we speak. As soon as Noin returns, we'll discuss scenarios for possible widespread production and distribution of the vaccine.”

Quatre squeezed his sister's hand reassuringly. “I know Heero's report is disturbing, but we really need your help. It's very important that we can understand this individual and his behaviour so we can find him.”

Iria nodded, pulling herself together and mustering her professional detachment. Taking a deep breath, she began.

“As you've probably already deduced, your subject is extremely intelligent. He is highly creative and resourceful, but his actions are determined by his emotional response rather than a predetermined plan. I believe he launched his offense on the base with only the basic outline of a plan and then tackled each obstacle as it arose. The fact that he chose to divert the Liberators to a central location shows that he was familiar with their operating procedures but also indicates that he might be physically weak or unskilled in close-range combat. I also believe that his confinement of the soldiers indicated that his main objective was the reprogramming of the L2 beam cannon.”

Five intense pairs of eyes remained riveted to her in silence as she took a deep breath before continuing.

“Based on the discrepancies between the hacking of the communications and locking systems, and the recalibration of the beam cannon, I would hazard a two guesses:

“The first scenario is that someone else was responsible for the calculations of the false coordinates. The second scenario is that your subject was responsible for the calculations himself, but that he had them prepared in advance. Whatever the case, both situations indicate familiarity or prior knowledge of the beam cannon's design.”

“Mr. Chang,” Iria turned to Wufei, “have you determined if anyone left the L2 colony shortly after the attack on the base?”

Wufei shook his head. “No, radar history indicates no activity that differs from our flight records. I also performed a systems check on all the functioning ports on L2 and all sensors were online and in full working order. Other than our own Preventers ships and Heero's impromptu visit, no has been to or left the colony.”

Iria nodded gravely. “As I suspected, this was a suicide mission.”

“What could be the motivation for destroying an entire colony?” Sally queried, “And what does this reveal about our subject?”

“Determining motivation from so little information is problematic,” Iria bit her lip, “but I would speculate that the creator of the false coordinates either felt that something on the colony was dangerous enough to require destruction, or that this was a matter of revenge.

“Based on the hidden message in the beam canon's coordinates, I have made some very simple diagnoses on the mental state of the author of this message. If it is the first scenario, the author suffers from severe narcissistic personality disorder or they may even have a God complex. Passing judgement on an entire colony and associating with the god of death indicates that the subject has no sympathy for his fellow men. In this case, your subject was merely a disposable pawn.”

Quatre sucked his breath in sharply. “And if it's the second scenario?”

“If your subject is indeed the message's author, he was motivated largely by guilt. The phrase `Shinigami grants no reprieves' indicates that he believed that this god would pass judgement on both himself and the soldiers on the base, perhaps even the colony itself. I do not believe he operated with the rescue of L1 and Sector 17 in mind, but with the belief that the colony needed to be destroyed and judged by a higher entity.”

The room fell silent as each member at the large conference table tried to absorb Dr. Winner's conclusions.

Quatre broke the silence when he suddenly shot out of his chair and slammed his fist on the table. “Allah! How could I have been so blind?” he shouted, “Iria's suggestion of the possible motivations behind destroying the colony just made me realize a fatal flow in our reasoning. We've been assuming that subject is an UNDIS sample simply because he attacked the base. But if this wasn't an attack but a cover-up… this could mean our subject is an undocumented S.A. operative sent in to destroy evidence!”

“You mean L2 was being used not only as a military base and quarantine for the UNDIS but something else?” Wufei exclaimed as he rushed towards his computer station. Furiously typing in new parameters and refining his search, he watched anxiously as the screens displayed his filtering data. “Come on Nataku,” he muttered under his breath.

“Here!” he yelled in triumph. “There are vague mentions and hints of some sort of experiments and,” Wufei scrolled through a few more screens, “a lab? No, it looks more like a production facility! I have no specific location but it seems to be located somewhere on L2.”

“We'll need to organize a search team and find that facility before there's another attempt to destroy it,” Sally stated. “And if the operative is still there, he needs to be captured. He will have vital information that we need. And, if our original assumptions are still correct and the subject is an UNDIS, he may also have some information on the S.A. Either way, it will be a `search & capture' mission.”

“Oh dishonourable cur!” Wufei suddenly bellowed at his screen. “The lab is somehow tied up with his blasted QR145 virus!”

“Trowa and I will go,” Heero declared calmly, “we have already been inoculated against the virus. We'll take the Gemini.”

“Alright,” Sally nodded. “I'll inform Noin when she gets back and-”

A sudden harsh beep from her tablet interrupted her. Frowning, she glanced down at the message and paled visibly.

“What is it?” Iria asked in trepidation.

“Heero, Trowa, you are now operating a `search & rescue' mission.”

“What? Why?” Quatre breathed.

Sally was grim faced. “Our original assumption was correct. Analysis of the genome indicates several genetic flaws and non-regulation mutations. The subject is an UNDIS.”

Sally's grim expression darkened. “He is also dying.”

Heero shot out the door.

“Heero, wait!” Sally shouted after him to no avail.

“I guess that's my cue,” Trowa said dryly.

“Be careful Trowa. And look after Heero would you? He has been very reckless lately…”

“Of course love,” Trowa placed a gentle kiss on Quatre's forehead and turned to leave. “I won't let anything happen to us.”

“Pick up several doses of penicillin from my lab before you leave,” Sally commanded. “The subject has a highly resistant strain of pneumonia. Once you find the subject, bring him back for treatment immediately.”

“Understood.”

~*~

A small beeping echoed through the tunnel.

Yawning widely, Duo reached into his pocket to retrieve a small black device, squinting at it with one eye. “Morning already? Hmm…”

Stretching sluggishly he, counted his fingers and toes. “Huh, all ten fingers and toes.”

He glanced at his sleeping companions, a mass of fur and tails within the small section of abandoned pipe. “I guess sharing my apple was an acceptable peace offering for not chewing on my toes…”

His gaze returned to his small black box. “So, what's the forecast for today?” he asked cheerily.

Giving the box a vigorous shake, he waited for the words to assemble on the small screen. “Unprofitable & Disjointed. Hmm… that's pretty accurate.”

Replacing the box in his pocket, he pulled out a bag filled with several small fuzzy leaves. Taking a leaf, he placed it in his mouth and chewed carefully before breaking into a round of coughing.

When his coughing finally subsided, he grimaced. “Blegh. Solo never did manage to make these less bitter…”

AN: Ok, I had originally planned to have the gang find Duo much earlier on in the story but decided that the story might make more sense if I established a lot of the background and characterizations up front. I do promise that Duo will make contact with the gang within the next four chapters (fingers crossed!)

I also realized that the tone of these chapters is quite dark. I`m hoping to start balancing the darker scenes with lighter ones once everything gets sorted out, so please stick around!

As usual, thanks for reading and I`ll hope you`ll continue to return to this story as I add future chapters!